Friday, March 12, 2010

The Return of Tiger

I'm not surprised by the hoopla over the sexual exploits of Tiger Woods. This is the United States, after all, and we love us a pointless sex scandal. Each time it happens I just try to ignore it. Unless, of course, the story is about a male Republican politician caught in a gay sex scandal. That's different, that's hilarious. Chris, John and I discussed the other night whether or not Tiger Woods would be back this season. We all agreed that there was no way Tiger would miss the Masters. Looks like we were right. That's not really that hard of a call. The only goal Tiger Woods has left in golf is beating Jack Nicklaus' record for wins at Majors. Tiger just turned 34 and he knows he's only got so many shots at wins at majors since there's only four of those events each year.

I'm surprised that he appears to be making his comeback at Augusta. If that is going to be his first competitive golf of the year there is no way he'll compete for the win. He'll probably struggle to merely play on the weekend. John thought he would play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational since it's two weeks before the Masters and held near where Tiger lives. Not coming back before the Masters will be a mistake. I can only think he wants to return at the Masters because those that run that tournament don't allow the media to take the place over. The tournament comes first and then we'll see about accommodating the media.

I'll be glad when his return finally happens so the rest of the world can get beyond his personal life and we can concentrate on what's important, his decades long competition to unseat Jack Nicklaus as the greatest golfer ever. Because if he doesn't break Nicklaus' record he will never be number one and that's all Tiger wants.